TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan's bats went cold on the final day of play at the U12 Baseball World Cup on Sunday, falling to South Korea 0-2 in the bronze medal game.

The tournament was held at Tainan’s Asia-Pacific International Baseball Training Center, where two youth fields hosted simultaneous games at 10 a.m. On the adjacent field, the US cruised to a 7-1 victory over Japan to claim gold — its third consecutive championship, per UDN.

Sunday’s matchup marked the second meeting between Taiwan and South Korea in as many days. In their previous game, Taiwan triumphed in a nine-inning thriller, 11-5. Typically, U12 games are capped at six innings, though extra innings are allowed during the “super round” for seeding purposes.

Taiwan started Zhong Ding-xu (鍾定栩), who dispatched six straight batters across the first two innings. However, he gave up three hits and one run in the third. He was replaced by reliever Hsieh Cheng-chun (謝承濬), who pitched well but surrendered a double and single in the fifth, allowing one more run.

South Korea rode a dominant performance from Kwon Yun-seo, who pitched a complete-game shutout. Taiwan had early chances, including back-to-back singles in the first inning, but failed to capitalize.

Additional scoring opportunities came in the third and fourth innings, with runners in scoring position, but Taiwan could not convert.

The loss marks the first time Taiwan has failed to medal at the U12 Baseball World Cup, now in its eighth edition. South Korea earned its first-ever medal in the tournament, while the US took home its sixth title.